New generation electrical wiring is expected to be based on carbon nanotube materials [1-5]. Carbon nanotube wiring systems have the potential to provide extremely high electrical and thermal conductivity combined with superior mechanical strength and low weight [6-8]. Furthermore, carbon nanotube wires have the advantage of functioning and achieving very high electrical performance at room temperature.
However, insulation of these new generation conductors will be important for their utility in real-world electrical and electronic devices.
Due for example to the substantially different morphology (intrinsic structure), physical assembly in macroscopic structures and chemical properties of carbon nanotube materials compared with traditional metal conductors, and the fact that carbon nanotube materials may be of a much smaller size than traditional metal conductors, conventional techniques for insulation are typically unsuitable. To the best of the present inventors' knowledge, no feasible proposals have yet been made for suitable methods for insulating carbon nanotube wires. Similar problems are encountered with conducting materials comprising graphene nanoribbons.
There remains a need for suitable materials and methods for insulating conducting carbon materials comprising carbon nanotubes and/or other conducting carbon nanostructures such as graphene nanoribbons.